


Metal

by Apetslife



Category: Popslash
Genre: M/M, Piercings, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-03
Updated: 2012-02-03
Packaged: 2017-10-30 12:59:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/331983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apetslife/pseuds/Apetslife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joey's got this little piercing fetish. Written for Georgina's birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Metal

Metal  
by Pet  
For Georgina

***

They'd talked about everything and anything a million times already; after six years of enforced close quarters and intimacy, any new subject was latched on to and passed around and discussed until it died. So Joey shouldn't have been so surprised when his offhand comment about considering a new tattoo was taken so seriously. They'd been on this bus for days, after all.

"Oh, oh," JC cringed down on the couch and covered his face with his hands. "Oh, Joey, why?"

"Because they're cool!" Chris chuckled evilly, and leaned over close to JC, who shrank back into the corner of the couch and waved fingers at him ineffectively. "NEEDLES, C."

"Knock it off," Lance ordered absently from the table, still picking at his lunch and basking a little in the sunlight streaming in the windows. "You know how he gets. Where, Joe? You got an idea yet?"

"Maybe a piercing instead," Joey grinned, watching Chris poke JC and whisper "sharp, long, pointy, bad...' in his ear. "I dunno. It's just an idea."

"Get away, bad small person!" JC finally yelped, and tumbled off the couch to land at Justin's feet. Justin snapped his head up and pulled off his headphones, staring at JC.

"You okay, C?"

JC stayed down, and sulked. "Chris was being evil."

Justin shrugged, and glanced over at Chris, who was sitting on his hands with a look of pure innocence on his face that fooled no one.

"I was not! I'm never evil!" He loftily ignored the chorus of disbelieving laughter and Lance's wild eye-roll. "I'm just misunderstood."

"You're misunderstood like a paramecium," JC declared.

They all stared at JC.

"You know, paramecia? They're the little pod things, like amoebas, only not really, kind of smaller, I think. We had to look at them under microscopes, I remember, they were all wriggly-"

"So, Joey, tattoo or piercing?" Lance talked over JC, who didn't even notice.

"Oh, hey, new tattoo? Where?" Justin stood up eagerly, ready to witness the new ink.

"-and they're, like, clear, all the way through, you can see their little insides, so, you know, they're kind of hard-"

"Justin, you saw me naked last night, an' I've been stuck on this bus with you all day today. Was I hiding ink?"

"Ooooh, Justin saw Joey *naked* last *night*," Chris leered, and Joey reached out and slapped his head.

"So did you, moron, in the quick-change room. Anyway, I got nothing new, but I'm thinking about it."

"-study them all the *time.* They're like the most understood things on the *planet*, so Chris is like that, totally not misunderstood." JC finished triumphantly, and Joey smiled at him.

"You know it, C. He's just evil."

JC beamed at him, and scootched over to lean against Joey's legs with a happy sigh.

"You ain't got anything left to pierce, Joey, unless you get a nose ring, and I dunno about that. Do you really want that much attention on your nose?"

Lance flicked a piece of his crust at Justin's head, and missed completely. "Joey's nose is just fine. Like you should be talking."

"Nice aim, Bass," Justin flipped him off amiably. "My nose is *crunk,* yo."

"And here I thought I was gonna be lucky enough to never hear that word again..." Chris sighed, and kicked his legs up so he was occupying the whole couch. "He's right, though, Joey. Maybe not a nose piercing."

"Piercing's even worse than tattoos." JC shuddered, and Joey petted his head soothingly.

"It doesn't really hurt, you know. Much."

"Depends on what you get pierced," Chris intoned sagely. "I think you should get a Prince Albert, Joe."

JC almost ended up in Joey's lap, he cringed so hard, and Joey could feel himself go pale. Lance choked and coughed, and Justin just looked lost.

"I really wasn't thinking anything that extreme, you know." This time when he wound his fingers through JC's curls it was as much for his own comfort as JC's.

"No, no!" Chris bounced up to a sitting position, eyes wide and excited. "I knew this dude, right, back in the day, and he had one and his girlfriend went *nuts* for it. I'm telling you, it's like the ultimate sex toy."

Joey shook his head. "I don't know if *any*one is worth that much pain."

"No, hey." Justin said earnestly. "Cartilage hurts worse than anything, you know. An' you already did that, so this can't be that bad, right?"

Chris clapped a hand over his eyes and groaned. "You have no idea what we're talking about, do you?"

"No! I do!" Justin was all indignation. "It's true, I heard, cartilage is the worst! Ten times worse than your tongue!"

"Justin..." Lance's voice was an amused rumble. "A Prince Albert is getting your *dick* pierced."

There was a moment of respectful silence.

"Whoa, shit," Justin finally breathed.

"Yep," Joey agreed. JC just hid his face.

***

After a while the comments and the peeks into his shorts died down, and the exterminators got rid of the flea infestation (Joey blamed Dirk, Lance blamed Joey) and they could move back to the nice quiet bus of sanity. Still, Joey couldn't quite shake the idea of some new body art. He really liked tattoos, the way they meant something permanent, the way they caught the eye with black or color against skin. Piercings, too, the unexpected flash of metal. He got his eyebrow re-pierced on a whim, but that was familiar and not really satisfying.

He was fingering it absently one night, wondering when it was going to be healed up enough to switch the barbell out to something cooler. Justin had fought Chris for the remote and won, so they were stuck watching MTV on the off chance that "Slave 4 U" would play. JC had fallen asleep ages ago, Lance was drowsing at Justin's knee, and Chris was flipping through the room service menu at warp speed, trying to find something he wanted to eat that wouldn't give him bad dreams.

"Look, Chris, it's your boyfriend!" Justin cackled suddenly, pointing at the tv, and Joey glanced up. The Backstreet Boys were warbling out the first few notes of "Shape Of My Heart," wandering around some kind of stage thing.

"I am not dating a Backstreet Boy, brat," Chris almost toppled off the bed trying to reach Justin, but gave up. "Give me credit for some standards, here."

"Don't tell me there's nothing going on with you and that little pygmy Howie D-OUCH!" Justin rubbed at his thigh where Lance had pinched him and looked wounded. "Don't pinch, it's mean."

"Don't be a dick an' I won't have to," Lance came back, mumbling sleepily and peering at the screen. "This video is shot really well, huh?"

"Whatever, Lance Spielberg. Hey, check it out, Nick's teeth." Justin giggled.

"Hey, check it out, AJ. That's one shit-kicking voice he's got." Joey leaned forward intently. "He doesn't have that thing in his lip any more, does he?"

"I hear he's got metal more interesting places to make up for it." Chris smirked, holding his page in the menu with a thumb. "If you know what I'm sayin'."

"Seriously?" Joey looked closer, as if he could see through clothes. "Says who?"

"Says lots of people. Oh, hey Joe, you should talk to him about that." Chris laughed as Joey groaned, covering his eyes. "Ask him if it's really all that an' a bag of chips. So you can make an informed decision and everything. He might even show you."

"Yeah, Joey." Justin jumped in eagerly. "Then you could tell him all about how you think his voice is *dreamy*."

"Quit putting your Backstreet lust on us, J. I'm sure Nick'll give you a closer look at those teeth if you ask pretty." He traded high-fives with Chris as Lance laughed and Justin stammered and glared.

"Pretty," JC suddenly echoed, from the bed, and Joey swung to look at him, but he was still fast asleep.

"Shhhh," Chris said, as Justin opened his mouth for what was bound to be loud and sustained denial. "Don't wake up JC."

Joey had to admit, though, if only to himself, that AJ looked pretty goddamned hot with that piercing.

***

Somewhere between the ballroom and the bathroom, Joey got lost, and he wandered for about five minutes, cursing hotels, the VMAs, afterparties, O-Town, and Chris, who had waved vaguely and told him it was "right over there, can't miss it."

He finally turned a corner in another identical hallway with identical carpeting and mirrors, filled with identical industry-type people laughing too loudly, and breathed a sigh of relief as the familiar sign caught his eye. "Can't miss it my ass," he grumbled, pushing through the door. It wasn't crowded, but both the urinals were occupied, and he tapped his foot impatiently. He was sure he was gonna explode.

Finally that guy from Linkin Park zipped up and rinsed off and headed for the door with a friendly wave that Joey returned. Oh, thank god. He barely noticed the guy beside him leaving, just waiting for his body to get the message that it was okay to *go* now. It was taking its time about it.

A sound to his left turned his head around, and though all he could see was a hat and a strongly arched nose in profile, he grimaced to himself. Great, now he was distracted and he *really* couldn't go. He turned back to face the wall blankly, but his eyes cut sideways slowly, carefully, as Chris's words came back to him. He couldn't see anything, he was at a bad angle. He leaned forward a little, casual casual casual, not looking at anything, nope, not a thing. There was a flash of silver, but he couldn't tell if it was one of those rings or something more interesting. He leaned. Looked. The hand that was holding AJ's dick had its middle finger extended, and Joey snapped upright so fast he maybe sprained something. He could feel the hot blood rushing to his face in a wave, and stared at the wall so hard he could almost see *through* it. He was frozen.

AJ's zipper was loud in the silence as he finished, but he didn't leave, as far as Joey could tell. Just kind of stood there, a dark blur in Joey's peripheral vision. Was he staring? Sure, Joey had been caught peeking, but staring was against every Guy Rule Joey'd lived his life by since puberty. The silence was really getting to him, he was almost twitching, and AJ was just *standing* there.

Before he even realized it was happening, he broke, whipping around fast and glaring at AJ, who was not only staring, he was smirking too. Looking like some kind of evil cat burglar in black leather and silk.

"WHAT?" He belatedly realized he was still holding his dick in his hand, and flushed hotter.

"Hey, sorry," AJ raised his hands and lounged back against the sink, looking very amused. "Thought we were doing show and tell, here, is all. My bad."

Joey snorted a little, and tucked himself safely away. He'd lost all desire to pee.

"Shy?" Still with the smile that Joey wanted to smack. And he was between Joey and the sink.

"Some of us have better things to do than pierce our dicks and then flash the jewelry around the men's room at the VMAs," Joey snapped defensively, and then winced. He'd just lost any chance at plausible denial.

AJ actually clapped his hands as he laughed gleefully, and Joey kept glaring. He just wanted to get out of here, *now*, but AJ wasn't letting him at the sink, and the other important Guy Rule was that you couldn't leave the bathroom without washing your hands if there was anyone else there. Joey was very fond of the Guy Rules, and he was clinging to them now as his last desperate hope of escape. Surely AJ knew them too? Surely he wouldn't...he winced again. This was *AJ*, of course he would. Somebody hadn't raised this boy right, that was for damn sure.

"Noticed that, did you?"

"No," Joey almost grumbled, giving up. "I couldn't see."

"Aw." AJ grinned at him. "What's this sudden fascination with my piercings, anyway?"

Joey made a helpless gesture. "I was talkin' about getting another one, and couldn't figure out where, and Chris said..." He shut up.

"Y'all were sitting around talking about my DICK?" AJ looked thrilled, then thoughtful. "Guess it makes sense, we just had a long talk about JC's ass the other day. Carter, in particular, is very taken with it."

Joey shook his head frantically. "No, no, not your dick as such, I mean, as a dick, as YOUR dick, per se, we were really actually more talking about. Piercing. Yeah." Then his quarter-second attention span kicked in, and he cocked his head. "Nick, really? I never would've thought." He smiled a little at the thought of Nick mooning over JC's skinny butt.

"He likes 'em small." AJ smirked. Joey met his eyes, startled. AJ was both small and skinny, and...

"No, no." AJ waved his hand, laughing. "I can't believe you heard about my piercing and not...never mind. Not me. Not important." He grinned again. "So, you're thinking of getting some metal installed, huh?"

"Hell no!" Joey knew he was protesting maybe a bit too much, but he couldn't help bending at the waist a little, protectively. "FUCK no! Metal in the jewels? You gotta be nuts, man!"

"No, you just gotta HAVE 'em," AJ's voice mocked him.

"Fine, fine, you've got 'nads the size of baseballs, you're carrying so much metal you gotta stay away from big magnets, I get it." He took a step forward, angling for the sink, tired of this conversation and more than a little pissed that AJ had interrupted his nice quiet bathroom break.

"Whoa, hey." AJ finally shifted, and Joey hit the water and started scrubbing at his hands. "No offense meant. It doesn't hurt that much, and it's pretty much worth it, if you're still interested."

"Yeah?" Joey looked at him sideways, curiousity overcoming better judgement yet again. "I dunno, man, just the thought..." He shuddered. "And doesn't it look...weird?"

"Depends on what you're into," AJ shrugged gracefully. "Nobody's objected yet. Wanna see?"

"Um." Joey really kind of did, but wouldn't it be...ah, fuck it. He'd been trying to picture it since Chris had mentioned AJ might have one, and this was his chance. "Sure, fine, if you're cool."

"Don't overwhelm me with your enthusiasm," AJ said dryly, reaching for his pants anyway. Just as he got the button open, the door swung open, and someone in a suit staggered in, clearly very drunk.

"Hey," he slurred at AJ, ignoring Joey. "I luv you guys. You fuckin' ROCK. Uhhhh..." He barely made it to the urinal before vomiting everywhere.

"A fan. How nice." Joey grinned, holding his nose.

"Shut up." AJ snapped his button back in and ran his hands quickly under the water. "Maybe some other time, then."

"Nah, hey." Joey knew he'd never get up the courage to ask again, and he was dying to see. "Somewhere a little more private, maybe?"

AJ rolled his eyes, clearly visible behind the lightly tinted glasses, but held the door open for him. "Your place or mine?"

"Are you staying here?" Joey trailed behind him, feeling like some hulking bodyguard next to AJ's slim grace.

"Nope. The Plaza. You?"

"Nope. The Hilton." Joey glanced around like a solution would magically materialize.

"Well, we are in a hotel." AJ easily sidestepped a couple that were attached at the lips in the middle of the hall. "There's bound to be...ah." He glanced around himself, saw no one, and pushed open another door. Joey followed him in, and grinned as he recognized the gym.

"I don't believe they don't have this place locked," he commented idly, poking at one of the machines. "Some drunk fucker's gonna come in here and drop a weight on his own head and hey, lawsuit."

AJ shrugged, and locked the door behind them. "Looks like we're doing our part to keep the Doubletree Hotel out of court, then." He looked much less cocky here, in the quiet open space of the empty gym, and Joey grinned.

"A'right, dude, here we are, show the goods." He stepped closer. "I still don't really believe you did it."

"Oh, I did it all right." Just like that the smirk was back, and AJ was unbuttoning and unzipping carefully. Clearly wasn't wearing any underwear, because when Joey bent his head to look closer, fascinated, there it was.

Pretty much a regular dick. Joey'd seen his share, and this one was nicely large--one more rumor confirmed, Chris would be glad to hear--and well-shaped and through the tip, a shiny silver barbell.

"Whoa," he breathed, bending down even further to get a better look. "You're saying that didn't hurt?"

"Oh, it HURT," AJ's voice was tight. "Just not as much as you'd think. It was the after that was bad. Swelling and no sex."

Joey shuddered, but he couldn't stop staring. "What's that called, anyway?"

"Ampellang." Still in that tight voice, and "aw fuck," his cock twitched and started to fill and lift, and Joey got a sudden flash of what he must look like, bent over like he was, face right down in there, and he bit back a grin as he glanced up at AJ's face. Sharp white teeth were biting down on his lip, and his eyes were tightly closed.

Joey sighed gustily, watching with interest as AJ got hard *fast* at the touch of his breath. "I dunno, man," he said casually. "That just doesn't look comfortable to me. Doesn't it get caught on stuff?"

"Not if you do it right." AJ sounded like he was suffocating now, and his hands were white-knuckled fists at his sides. "Peep show over? You happy?"

"Not as happy as you are," Joey said, falling down into an easy crouch that eased some of the pressure on his own suddenly-tight pants. "Never would've pegged you for the type to get a hard-on for N Sync, McLean."

AJ pulled himself together enough to arch a sardonic eyebrow at him. "Don't take it personally. I've just been on the road for a while."

"Aw, now, that's not nice." Joey grinned up at him. This was just what he'd been wanting, without even realizing it. It had been too long. "Want some help with that little problem you've got?"

"Whatever it is, it ain't little." AJ's hands pulled back from where he'd been reaching for his fly, though, and he blinked down at Joey consideringly. "You ain't gonna bite it off or anything, are you? You want a barbell, you gotta buy your own."

"I never bite," Joey protested indignantly, still looking up. "SOME of us were taught manners, y'know."

"Never hurts to check." AJ grinned. "I figured you must be planning something nasty, since you can't go running to the tabloids."

"Isn't that great?" Joey said happily. "I just love that. Making them sign non-disclosures kind of ruins the mood."

"Like you not shutting up and sucking me is ruining the mood?" AJ pushed his hips forward a little, though Joey noticed he hadn't gotten any less hard.

"Kind of like that, yeah." Joey laughed, and leaned in, stretching his tongue out first to touch the metal bar. AJ shivered lightly, and Joey grabbed his thighs, holding him still, feeling the muscles clench and shift as AJ balanced. His tongue was busy, now, sliding over hot smooth skin, tasting a drop of salt, lapping all around the head. AJ's hands rested gently on his head, restless fingers moving aimlessly, almost petting him. He glanced up, saw the dark fan of long eyelashes on AJ's pale cheek, the red red mouth, dark slash of beard, and thought, oh yeah.

When he finally took AJ into his mouth completely, he got a choked moan that would have made him smile, but he was distracted. The barbell clicked against his teeth, and he wondered what that felt like to AJ. He tasted the sharp tang of metal, along with the musk and salt he was expecting, and hollowed his cheeks and sucked. AJ just went to pieces under his hands and mouth, shaking and gasping, fingers knotting and twisting in his hair, arching his hips forward and staggering in Joey's hold. Joey let him slip out again with a lewd wet sound, and grinned.

"Don't you fucking dare..." AJ had a deathgrip on his hair, not hurting, just holding, his voice a baritone rasp that Joey felt in his spine.

"Don't be so fucking paranoid," he murmured. "I know there's a bench back there somewhere. You better steer." He bent forward again, taking one end of the barbell delicately between his teeth. AJ sucked in air and swore viciously, but went abruptly silent when Joey started moving backwards, still on his knees, eyes fixed on tight black curls and the groove of muscle that disappeared under AJ's open pants. AJ followed because he had to, Joey hadn't let go, though he was starting to think this was maybe not such a good idea. AJ's legs were trembling so hard Joey didn't know how he was standing, much less walking.

"O-over to your left. No, your right. Goddamnit, that way." Joey tracked a slim, black-tipped hand as it gestured, and obediently moved left. The steel was warm against his tongue. AJ was burning under his hands, slick leather over skin he was having fun imagining. He remembered AJ's tattoos, and had to close his own eyes for a second. AJ would pick tonight of all nights to remember that shirts were supposed to have sleeves. He opened his eyes again and leaned his head back, tugging gently, and AJ sighed and followed, eyes vague and mouth a little open, balancing his steps against Joey.

Joey bumped back against the weight bench he'd remembered, the jar making AJ hiss and twist his hips closer. When he hummed, the vibration moving from his mouth to metal to AJ, AJ almost fell. It was definitely time to get the boy off his feet. Joey couldn't even smirk; he was breathing hard through his nose and it still wasn't enough, this was so hot he was panting. He let go long enough to gasp, ignoring AJ's pained yelp, and stood up. Goddamn, AJ was short. He towered, and AJ jerked his chin up challengingly. Joey couldn't resist that, not ever, and dove in for a kiss.

AJ flinched back, eyes wide and startled behind his glasses, and Joey had a brief moment of 'oh, fuck, oops,' then decided he didn't care. AJ moved to him willingly enough after that first reaction, arching up into him eagerly, hands tight on his biceps and tongue slashing into his mouth demandingly. Traces of smoke in a mouth panted dry, and Joey licked him wet again, pressing hard against AJ's back, pulling him tight against his hips.

"Mother of FUCK." AJ yanked his mouth away, fingers still digging tomorrow's bruises into Joey's arms. Joey stared at him, hot and tingling to his toes, mind empty of everything but want. "Fuck," AJ repeated, running his tongue over swollen lips. Joey cocked his head.

"Is that good, with the...thing?" He couldn't believe he was talking. AJ's eyes got big.

"For the other guy? Like I said, no complaints." AJ licked his lips again. "For me? Oh, hell yeah. You do that?"

"Yeah." Joey started to ache, trapped tight behind his fly, inside where he was suddenly eager. "You got stuff?"

"No." AJ made a frustrated face, hips rocking lightly against Joey. "Wasn't expecting to get lucky tonight. You?"

"No, but I'm clean." Joey rocked back, liking the rythm.

"Me too. Lube?"

"Spit. Spunk. Whatever." Joey realized how impatient he sounded, and flushed. AJ chuckled, but it sounded pained.

"My kinda man. Shed those threads, Fatone, I'm good for about three more minutes, and then it'll be all over."

Joey groaned agreement, and stripped out of his shirt and pants so fast he almost fell back onto the bench, not helped at all by the fact that AJ was getting naked just as quickly. He toed off his shoes and watched as AJ fought with his cuffs, eyes wandering over pale skin lightly dusted with hair, bold tattoos, hard muscles sliding slinky-smooth. Finally the button just gave, and AJ flung it away and prowled back to Joey, who grinned and reached for his hat and glasses. "You've gotta take 'em off at least to fuck," he tossed them on the pile of clothes. AJ blinked big eyes in the presumably brighter light, ran a quick hand through his purple hair, then smiled and licked a long hot swipe over Joey's collarbone.

"Thought you'd be hairier," he commented vaguely, and Joey looked down at him, a little bemused.

"O--kay." He wasn't in the mood to debate body hair, not when AJ was was sucking at his nipple and making the best growly sounds. He was desperate now, and AJ was interested in more foreplay? Joey was a big fan of foreplay, but there was a time and a place...he pulled away from AJ's mouth and hands, took the deep breath that he'd been needing for a while, and dropped a hand to AJ's cock. The piercing nudged at his palm.

"Didn't we have plans for this?"

AJ bucked into his grip, muscles tightening all over his body, bringing the tattoos into sharp relief. "Yeah, I think we did," he muttered breathlessly. "Better get me wet. Mouth's dry."

"Dehydration kills," Joey commented, dropping to his knees again. He'd be sore tomorrow. More places his knees, and he shivered happily in anticipation before sucking AJ in again and getting him as slicked up as he could. AJ was back to growling, so Joey kept it short. Didn't want this to be over before the main event, after all. He pulled back, fighting AJ's grip on his head, and turned, bending over the bench. He really hoped they cleaned this place before the guests used it tomorrow.

"Fucker, what a great ass, Jesus," AJ murmured, and Joey heard him hit the floor. Two wet fingers twisted hard and deep and sudden, and at least he wasn't gonna be boring about it, and the buzz of pleasurepain went straight through Joey and locked his teeth over a howl. The bench was blue, and swimming a little in his vision as sweat sparkled in his eyelashes. Three now, and Joey had to consciously relax and push down a little to make it comfortable, it *had* been a while. AJ was licking at his shoulder, biting lightly at his skin, babbling profane, dirty things as he spread his fingers and curled them and Joey almost climbed the bench when his prostate sparked. His hand dropped to his cock, hard again and wet and ready.

"Oh, fuck, now," he was through waiting, and just hoped AJ was as ready as he was.

Fingers held him open for something bigger and hotter and better in all ways, and he felt the moan rumble up from his chest and bit his tongue. Burning push, stretching him painfully, and he breathed carefully and waited. AJ held stil, pelvis flush against Joey's ass, hands on his hipbones, panting breaths tickling the back of Joey's neck. Finally Joey eased, the burning changed to a slow throbbing pulse, and he dropped his head to the bench.

"Knew we needed lube," AJ grated out. "Stubborn fucker. So fucking HOT."

"Just get on with it already," Joey breathed, wanting it, twisting his hips and shifting his weight back. "C'mon, c'mon..."

"Shit." AJ pulled out, then slid back in, easily this time, and Joey had never felt anything like it. The ball scraped his prostate every time, twisting him in helpless reaction and jacking him higher and higher, until he was rocking back into AJ, making AJ scrabble at his skin with blunt fingers to hold him steady. Joey jerked himself steadily in AJ's rythm, just coherent enough to realize that AJ was trembling and moaning and probably wouldn't have the presence of mind for a reach-around. One final thrust with those powerful hips, AJ digging deep and holding there until the pleasure was so intense it was pain, and Joey came like hitting a brick wall. His brain filled with static and his vision went white and he bit his lip and tasted blood, and the muscles in his thighs turned to liquid, dropping his weight onto AJ.

"Ohhhhhhhh," apparently that was all it took, because AJ went rigid behind him and his hips jerked one, two, three times, before he sagged boneless to Joey's back.

They breathed like that for a minute, Joey blinking hazily and wondering if there was any way he could explain passing out here and never moving again to his band. He was pretty sure he was dead.

"You alive?" AJ's lips brushed his skin.

"Unnnngh." He couldn't move his mouth.

"Uh-huh." AJ subsided. He was pretty heavy, and Joey's ass was sore, and AJ kind of needed to get out of there now.

"Guh." He shifted away, wincing at the pull as AJ came free, then collapsing slowly to the floor. AJ came with him, apparently still unable to move.

"Gonna get one yourself?" Couldn't move anything but his mouth, clearly.

"Uhhhhh." Joey hoped AJ could translate that to 'yes.'

"Good." Joey could almost hear the smirk. "My work here is done."

Joey rolled his eyes, but grinned. "Nesstime youcn' see for yrself howit feels," he slurred, still a little drunk on pleasure. He grinned even harder as AJ 'hmmmm'd thoughtfully.

***

"No. Fucking. Way." Chris stared at him. "No way, Joey. You're fucking with us, right?"

"Dude, he's so fucking with us." Justin tossed his head. "NO way would Joey let anybody near his johnson with a needle."

"Johnson?" Chris snickered, momentarily diverted. "Are we going back to grade school, Jup?"

"Shut up, I'm trying to clean up my language." Justin glared at him, then spun to look at Lance, who was grinning quietly. "Is he fucking with us, Lance?"

"Nope," Lance said, just as Joey said "I'm not, you freaks, I did it for real," and JC came out of his shocked silence and squeaked.

"That's why you can't walk today!" JC looked excited to have figured it out, then he paled. "Holy shit, Joey. For real?"

"For real." Joey nodded, then shifted uncomfortably where he sat. "Didn't hurt that bad then. It's a motherfucker now, though."

"Let me see, let me see!" Chris was at his side instantly, the others crowded behind him, eager, though JC was a little green. Joey smirked at them.

"You can see it in a week, when the swelling goes down. Right now it just looks it got hit with a bat."

"AAAH!" JC stumbled back, a hand over his mouth. "OUCH, Joey!" The others backed away carefully, looking horrified.

"It's okay, I've got this numbing stuff. It'll be okay." He reassured them, still smiling. "Good thing we're done with tour, though. No dancing for a while."

Chris scoffed. "Like what you did could be called dancing anyway," and Justin cuffed him and called him a snot, and Lance laughed. Joey sat back easily, watching them, and let JC settle on the couch beside him, all careful touches and offers of tea and Advil. A week, yeah, and then he'd show them. He grinned. Nothing like a little show and tell to bring people together, after all.

[end]


End file.
